The Thought Knot
by BookBlahBlahBooks
Summary: In which Kat worries herself into circles, and the audiance is invited to cackle from the background.


...

Katrina Donlan did not consider herself to be a stupid girl. At least, not where science and blatant subtext were concerned.

Lately though, she'd started to _feel_ pretty darn stupid in certain situations, and about stuff that had never been a problem for her before.

Situations like Annie leaning over for a casual hug, or anyone mentioning anything to do with girls and Kat and _any _sort of not purely platonic feelings.

She wanted to blame that last bit on Paz, but then Paz hadn't told her to put on a stupid hairband for plus five normality points. Paz hadn't said anything at all, except that she didn't swing that way, but the meaning had gotten right through anyway.

I, Kat Dolan the robot re-building fiend of Gunnerkrigg Court second years, come off as gay to anyone who meets me. And everyone who meets me has a darn good chance of meeting Annie too, because we're friends and hang out whenever we can, and the people who think I'm gay are gonna look at that little fact and get to thinking that….that…

…maybe me and Annie are…like that.

Usually hearing this sort of misconception would amuse Kat and probably even draw out a laugh before a correction, but she didn't feel like laughing this time. It was the wrong idea, so Kat automatically set about correcting it as best she could, but that didn't change the fact that her stomach had done a little flip at the thought.

At that particular thought. The thought about her and maybe Annie…

They were friends. No buts ands or ifs involved, they were friends and Kat would rather split her cells at the quantum level then try to change that fact.

That only made it more confusion, though, when The Thought had sent a wave of tingles down her back and added an extra beat to her heart.

She and Annie were friends, but did she subconsciously want them to be something else as well? Was that why she had reacted to Paz's mistake like that? Was that why she had taken to fumbling blindly in the changing room with her eyes cemented shut, and made sure as hell to knock carefully before barging into Annie room?

Was that why she flinched whenever she came close to touching her friend?

Annie was not that way, this Kat was pretty sure of. And neither was Kat, she assured herself daily. She had fallen for a guy before, she thanked nature for giving her such a hunk of an uncle to look up to, and she had never ever once before thought about kissing An-, any other girl before now.

Now though, now she kinda did sometimes. In the morning when her conscious mind was still coming back to reality, or at night when she sat up late thinking and remembering and _seeing_ all these things with her and Annie that she hadn't really thought about before.

Kat wasn't a stupid girl. She knew Annie was starting to notice the changes; she also knew that if things kept up this way, Annie's confusion might start turning into hurt instead. Kat knew she had to do something before then, but she didn't know _what_.

Tell Annie? About that awkward conversation with Paz? Get Annie to thinking about idea of Kat maybe being gay, and get her looking back and _seeing_ stuff too? They'd be friends no matter what, but Kat didn't feel like risking it. She didn't want things to get awkward between her and Annie too.

Well, not anymore awkward than she was already making them, anyway.

What really rankled Kat was how _everyone_ seemed to share Paz's crazy idea. About her. About Kat fancying Annie, or even just Kat fancying girls in general. She didn't, she wanted to tell them that, but going out of your way to tell someone you're not something has a tendency backfire. It keeps them thinking about it, and makes them wonder if you were protesting too much.

Kat had to be more sublet; she had to show she wasn't like that. She had to, but…..

….she wasn't so sure, anymore, if she was the way she had always thought she was.

(End Note: It's short and has no diolouge, but Gunnerkrig needs more stories. Also, Kat is fun to tease.)


End file.
